Although Shazam and his comic book nemesis Black Adam have yet to trade blows in the live-action DC Universe, Shazam! Fury of the gods director David F. Sandberg reveals that the Justice Society of America of black adam almost appeared in the Shazam! following.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sandberg was asked about Fury of the gods‘ mid-credit scene, in which ARGUS agents Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee) of The Suicide Squad (2021) and HBO Max Peacemaker recruit Shazam (Zachary Levi) to the JSA. According to the director, Harcourt and Economos’ appearance was a last-minute change, given that DC’s super team heroes were originally going to make an appearance. “There had to be characters from (Black Adam’s) Justice Society, but that fell apart three days before we were going to roll the cameras,” Sandberg said.
What is the Justice Society of America in Black Adam?
The DCU JSA was introduced in black adam (2022), starring heroes Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell). Appearing in the comics two decades before Justice League, the DCU’s version of the team is tasked by ARGUS manager Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) with apprehending Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) after his release from prison. a long period of 5,000 years. exile. Eventually, the JSA and Black Adam team up to stop the evil Sabbac from taking over the world, a fight that cost a JSA member his life.
Sandberg explained how the film’s gas station set, where Shazam meets Harcourt and Economos, was built for the planned JSA scene. “I was really upset because we had built this abandoned gas station set, and we could only shoot this scene in this little piece of forest,” Sandberg explained, adding, “They made it really beautiful with very few resources, and so I was like, ‘We have this set and we have time, so we have to shoot something here.'”
Thanks to a few calls from producer Peter Safran, now one of DC Studios’ co-CEOs alongside James Gunn, Holland and Agee signed on so the scene could be saved. “Jen Holland and Steve Agee were able to come on very short notice,” Sandberg explained. “I mean, the scene makes a little less sense with them. It’s like, ‘Why are they recruiting for Justice Society?’ but you can kind of see it because they work for Amanda Waller, so I was really grateful to have them there, and it was really cool to shoot it because I’m a big fan of Peacemaker.”
Future Peacemaker and Black Adam projects, explained
Amanda Waller and the cast of Peacemaker may have a future in the future of the DCU, but that of Black Adam and the JSA is more uncertain. Peacemaker has been renewed for a second season, but it has no official release window. Davis will star in Waller in the meantime, another DC series focusing on the boss of ARGUS following her crimes and the Suicide Squad program made public during the Peacemaker Season 1 finale.
As for Black Adam and the JSA, in November 2022, black adam producer Hiram Garcia hinted at future plans involving Atom Smasher, but if it was about Fury of the gods‘ The mid-credit scene or other projects are unknown. A month later, in December 2022, Johnson issued a statement on a pause on the future black adam projects, which read, “James Gunn and I have connected, and Black Adam will not be in their first storytelling chapter. However, DC and Seven Bucks have agreed to continue exploring the most valuable ways to use Black Adam in future multiverse chapters.”
Shazam’s DCU Future Depends On The Hero’s Sequel
Gunn and Safran’s Revamped DCU First Chapter Is Titled ‘Gods & Monsters,’ But No Future Shazam! the films have been announced at the time of writing. Both Sandberg and Levi discussed how the DCU hero’s future depends on the success of Fury of the gods, and the film’s two credit scenes seem to set up some new backstories for the character. With Shazam joining the JSA on the mid-credit scene, Fury of the gods‘ The post-credit scene follows the partnership between Doctor Sivana (Mark Strong) and Mister Mind teased in Shazam! (2019).
Shazam! Fury of the gods now playing in theaters.
Source: THR